Hello to all my friends on here! During my last days in the deserts of Qatar, I posted constantly to pass the time, and got a lot of great input and advice from the members. Now I’m back in New York City, and wanted to catch up. The flight went very smoothly. I posted a discussion about snuff on planes as I was concerned about security hassling me over it, but despite the double security check and full body search everyone headed to the US had to endure, they didn’t care about my full snuffbox which i just placed with everything else in the plastic tub. They seemed to care more about my brass compass!!! If any of you recall, snuff was banned in Qatar and I had to manufacture my own. I longed to try the professionally made ones I kept reading about, and was looking forward to coming home and being unrestricted. Today i received my first shipment of snuff. Honestly, I was dissapointed and prefer what I have been sniffing all this time to the “real” snuffs I got. When I simply grind up tobacco and add anise,clove,frankinsence,agarwood,rose,or any of the other experiments I carried out, I really enjoyed it but felt it was probably not as good as real snuff. The snuffs I ordered are all classics. The first thing I notice is the strong amonia scent. I find this unpleasant as it reminds me of a cat’s litterbox. This was not present in my homemade versions. I tried Wilsons Top Mill No.1, McChrystals Hops, in which I can’t detect any hops flavour at all,just amonia and menthol,McChrystals Original and Genuine, and Wislons non-tobacco white. I am not saying i dislike them altogether, but compared with my own simple homemade, I prefer to do without the ammonia, which is good for me in light of the new PACT laws being implimented just in time for my homecoming. Comments appreciated.
Well, the ammonia scent just means they’re fresh. Leave them to air out with the lid off for 30 minutes to an hour and it’ll go away. And unless you got a mislabelled tin of Hops, there’s no menthol in it. I’d just air it out and try them again. Besides, there’s a great deal of variety out there you haven’t tried, so I wouldn’t be so quick to write commercial snuff off if I were you. Try some Toques, Dholakias, F&Ts, etc. Chances are, you’ll find something you really like that you’d have no clue how to go about making yourself.
I had the same reaction when I got my first snuff shipment. I had been making my own snuffs and I felt cheated that everyone was so interested in the seemingly second-rate product I received. I let some of them air out, which helped with the ammonia, but really all I needed was time and experience. I now enjoy almost every snuff I have (a dozen kinds or so) and my collection is growing fast. I just stuck with it and kept sniffing and something in my body or my brain started to accept snuff and its many flavors. My homemade snuffs haven’t been touched in weeks now.
McChrystals Hops has no menthol in it, and is like opening a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and taking a deeeeeep breath, so very hoppy it is. As for the ammonia, you’ll either learn to love and appreciate what it means, or you’ll let the tin air out for an hour or two and go about your business.
yes you are both right. I just got these snuffs and mixed them up, the hops has no menthol. I still am not getting the hops though, just the ammonia, but it’s actually groing on me as the night goes on and I take pinches of it. Starting to like it. By the wa, what i ordered was hops but on the label is says hopfen schnupf. I know that’s just the same meaning in German, but is there only one hops snuff by McChrystals or are there two different products?
When I say mixed them up I mean confused them, not literally mixed the snuffs.
Yes there is only one kind of hops snuff, and as far as I know, it is the only one made regardless of brand.
Yes, hopfen schnupf is made by McChrystals, but the name comes from a hops farm in Switzerland named Stammheimer Hopfentropfen. Here you have their website (but it’s in German only) http://www.hopfentropfen.ch/home.phpAnd in the photo below you can see the tin of hops snuff among other products made with hops from that farm. 
Lol. Those are the same snuff. Its much easier to say Hops than Hopfen Schnupf so it got that nickname. You are lucky to get one so fresh. I had to order bulk to get it that fresh (with the ammonia smell). I don’t know how much you have but if you let 10-20g sit out for a little while it will only get better. Personally I like the ammonia smell. It really isn’t that strong, and I’m a freshness snob 
Good choice on snuffs though. Hops is my absolutely most favroitist snuff. I’m sitting on 200g of it, which for me is a lot.
If you like english snuffs, Wilsons of Sharrow do a box of 12 assorted snuffs (all different) in various sized tins. If you choose the small tins, they do them for £9.19 with airmail to NYC at £5.52 making a total of £14.71 (about $22.50). Their online ordering site is www.sharrowmills-online.com. All prices are in GBP. This is a cheap way to try a lot of snuffs.
My initial dislike of ammonia dissapeared by the next day. I now find myself reaching for the hops again and again and even filled my small box with it to take with me for the day.
good to hear you didn’t waste your money on something you can’t get into! welcome to snuffland.